“I’m grateful for your words alone.”

“Enough, just continue what you were saying.”

“Yes!”

Ranireo quickly continued the rest of his speech.

He showed the power of attorney that lawyer Paolo Arturo had received from the Marquis Este and pointed out the part where Emilia needed to sign, explaining that the moment this was submitted, the anonymity condition of the investment rights would become void and her identity would be revealed.

He explained that to receive profits from the investment rights, she had no choice but to break anonymity, but added that there were other assets left for her besides that.

Emilia gasped at the documents piled in front of her. As if proving that the documents left in the basement were just trivial matters, the papers Ranireo gave were all substantial content.

“…So all of Marquis Este’s hidden assets were here.”

Enrico was clicking his tongue briefly with a somewhat displeased look. It was clear that the royalties from various inventions he had invested in and the lands he had purchased were more money than she could spend in her lifetime.

Of course, it was just a drop in the bucket compared to Enrico’s wealth, but that wasn’t the important thing. The problem was Emilia’s environment, which seemed to be becoming increasingly lacking in regrets.

Enrico tilted his head slightly and brought his lips close to Emilia. Emilia flinched and was about to push him away when she saw Ranireo looking at her with surprised eyes across from her, and hesitantly stopped her hand.

She hesitated to push him away completely, as it might seem too rude for a marquis’s daughter to treat a duke so carelessly.

“You know our contract is still valid even if you’ve come into money, right?”

She reflexively held her breath. The hot breath she felt after a long time brushed against her cheek as a low, husky whisper reached her ear. Her face, which had been cringing with an awkward expression, hardened.

“Your goal wasn’t money. Don’t forget you have to stay by my side.”

Emilia bit her lower lip hard at Enrico’s behavior, which was once again dragging her mood down just when she thought today might be different.

“…I know.”

When a voice that sounded like she was lightly gritting her teeth leaked from Emilia, Enrico slightly raised one eyebrow and pulled his head back.

She could feel his gaze examining her expression, but Emilia stubbornly stared straight ahead, pretending not to notice.

“I’m sorry. Where were we?”

She even forced herself to raise the corners of her mouth. Enrico’s gaze lingered on that smile, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“Haha… I’ve explained almost everything. Just remember that the anonymity of the investment rights will only be maintained until this year, so you must handle it this year.”

“I see.”

“Then we’ll maintain anonymity for the automobile investment rights for a while since it’s not urgent. It will only attract unnecessary attention.”

Emilia nodded obediently to Enrico’s words, pushing aside her displeasure with him.

It was clear as day that the moment her identity regarding the automobile investment rights was revealed, Count Valemont would go crazy and come looking for her.

She didn’t want to be exposed to danger when nothing had been clearly revealed about her parents’ accident yet, and in fact, while the assets her parents had worked hard to protect were precious, material wealth was beyond her interest now.

The reason she sought out this lawyer in the first place wasn’t because she wanted to know about the automobile investment rights, but because he was the last person her parents had met, and she wanted to see him in person.

‘I’m sorry, Mother and Father… but this isn’t what I want to know.’

Emilia skimmed over the documents in front of her indifferently and finally asked Ranireo the question she had most wanted to ask.

“There’s one thing I’d like to ask.”

“Please go ahead.”

“…On the day my father had the accident, was there anything strange?”

Ranireo’s gentle face turned serious. As if this was a question he had been expecting, he nodded immediately and opened his mouth.

“As a matter of fact, he did leave us a warning before he passed away that day.”

Emilia’s eyes wavered greatly. All her nerves were focused on Ranireo’s mouth, which seemed to open slowly as if time was passing slowly.

‘Beware of the lion and the snake.’

It was as if she could actually hear her father’s voice. Emilia’s chin trembled slightly and then clenched tightly.

‘Lion…?’

Emilia’s gaze unconsciously turned towards the lion emblem of the Michele ducal family embedded in the middle of the reception room wall. A moment of silence passed, and her gaze flowed like water to Enrico’s profile.

Enrico’s purple eyes, which had been staring into space with an unreadable expression, slowly met her gaze. Emilia’s lips quivered with an incredulous look, and she barely managed to utter in a voice that seemed about to go out.

“…Isn’t the lion emblem only used by the royal family?”

Emilia pointed at the family emblem as her eyes reddened. Enrico answered in a low voice with deeply sunken eyes at her increasingly agitated breathing.

“That’s right.”

The lion and the snake. She was confused about who among the royal family it could be, and which snake emblem would match that royal. Emilia’s eyes trembled finely.

Of course, Enrico standing before her was also a duke of royal descent using the lion emblem, but if he had been the culprit, he certainly wouldn’t have allowed the case to be uncovered this far.

She, who had been pushing him away and crying out loud about her lack of trust in him, didn’t even realize that she was naturally trusting him as she moved her trembling lips.

“Then, do you know who the snake is?”

“There must be more than one or two families with snake emblems, but I know of one snake that goes well with the lion.”

A cold voice filled the air. Emilia met his deeply sunken eyes intently, waiting for his lips to part.

“The Valemont Count family.”

Soon, a voice filled with certainty pierced her ears clearly.

They hurriedly suggested to Ranireo to stay at the duke’s residence for a while, but he said he had to return right away because he was worried about the unwell lawyer.

Although Enrico’s subordinate was taking care of him instead, he said he wasn’t used to receiving help from others, having lived alone with the lawyer for so many years.

Still, they couldn’t part ways immediately, so they had a meal together out of courtesy, but her mind was so preoccupied that she couldn’t tell if the food was going down her nose or her mouth.

“Young lady, are you alright? I’ll leave the medicine here.”

In the end, Emilia, who had gotten indigestion, couldn’t even go home and ended up spending another night at Enrico’s mansion unintentionally.

Emilia, who had been lying down with the blanket pulled over her face, slowly sat up at the sound of the door closing carefully.

‘…Did Valemont Count and Alessandro really do this?’

She was half certain because of her father’s warning, but that alone wasn’t enough to perfectly pin them as the culprits.

Ranireo had apologized, saying he didn’t know much about the masked men who attacked his house because they had no particular characteristics and were in a hurry to escape, but it was enough that he had conveyed her father’s words.

Emilia, who had sighed deeply, walked towards the window. The moonlight, unusually dim and obscured by clouds today, somehow seemed to match her mood.

As she was staring blankly at the sky for a while, she heard a short knock followed by the sound of the door opening behind her. Emilia somehow felt she knew who it was, so she didn’t bother to turn around.

“Why are you standing like that?”

Enrico naturally approached the window and wrapped a black robe that had been hanging on one side around her shoulders. Emilia looked down at the robe for a moment and then looked up at Enrico, who was already standing beside her.

“Why didn’t you take your medicine? You said your stomach wasn’t feeling well.”

He bombarded her with endless questions, having checked the medicine on the side table as he entered.

“I was planning to take it before bed.”

“What nonsense is that, taking digestive medicine before bed? You should take it right away.”

Enrico headed towards the side table with a look that said not to say such nonsense. He picked up the medicine and a glass of water and approached her.

She watched his actions quietly and slightly frowned one eye. Why was he so affectionate at times like this? She should have just gone home.

She had been trying so hard to hold onto this heart that was already wavering towards him, but of all times, Enrico appeared in front of her when she wanted to crumble the most, and she felt an overwhelming desire to lean on him.

Emilia’s gaze moved from his beautiful face down his straight neck and stopped at his large hands.

“Do I need to feed you?”

Finally, Enrico, who had been quietly looking down at Emilia, asked in a low voice. Whether it was a joke or sincere, she didn’t know, but her head slowly moved left and right, lacking the strength to respond to his words.

“…Thank you.”

He tilted his head slightly with a look of incomprehension at her mood, which was so different from usual. Waiting for her to obediently take the medicine, he murmured softly.

“Why are you reacting like this? It’s a day when you’ve gained a lot of what you’ve been wanting to know, but instead of being happy, you look depressed.”

“I know. I thought I would be so happy when a day like this came, but strangely, I feel bitter.”

“Why?”

He naturally grasped her fingers while pretending to take the water glass in her hand.

“I feel like if my parents hadn’t tried so hard for me in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened. With all that wealth, it was more than enough, but I can’t understand, yet I think I can understand, their intention to leave even the automobile investment rights.”

“They must have wanted to protect you perfectly that much.”

Finally, the water glass slipped completely from her hand. And as if to fill that space, a warm hand enveloped hers completely.

“Valemont Count’s greed would have been endless from the start. Knowing this, the Este Marquis couple might have prepared their hearts by leaving everything to you.”